{"id":36364,"date":"2021-06-26T00:00:52","date_gmt":"2021-06-26T04:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/bob-neal-the-countryman-dancing-on-the-head-of-a-pin\/"},"modified":"2021-06-26T00:00:52","modified_gmt":"2021-06-26T04:00:52","slug":"bob-neal-the-countryman-dancing-on-the-head-of-a-pin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/bob-neal-the-countryman-dancing-on-the-head-of-a-pin\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Neal: The Countryman: Dancing on the head of a pin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Back in Sunday School, as Miss Knowles taught us the Ten Commandments, she didn\u2019t know, nor did I, that her lesson on \u201cThou Shalt Not Kill\u201d would be an epiphany for me.<\/p>\n

One of the kids asked her if the commandment meant he couldn\u2019t swat a fly. Another asked about killing animals raised for meat.<\/p>\n

Lois Knowles \u2014 she was also the fourth-grade teacher at school, so her words bore authority \u2014 replied that what God meant when he gave Moses the Ten Commandments was that we should not kill other human beings.<\/p>\n

The light bulb went on and has been shining ever since. Even when its words are simple and seem straightforward, the Bible bears interpreting.<\/p>\n

And theologians, not to mention the faithful, agnostics and atheists, started interpreting it almost before the ink dried on the parchment. Comes now the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stomping boldly into politics to declare that President Biden should be denied the sacrament of communion because he supports a woman\u2019s right to abortion.<\/p>\n

The Bible never mentions abortion \u2014 no doubt one or another form of abortion has been practiced since before we started writing down stuff \u2014 but the Church has declared it a moral evil. Period. Biden opposes abortion but says he won\u2019t impose his beliefs on others.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that the bishops\u2019 statement is political and not theological. As The New York Times explained on Monday, the bishops\u2019 conference has no power to bar Biden from communion. That power belongs to the pope and local bishops. Cardinal Wilton Gregory of Washington has said he won\u2019t order priests to bar the president from the sacraments.<\/p>\n

Interesting to note that the vote to draft the condemnation statement was approved 166-55, a whopping margin. But the conference of all active and retired bishops has 433 members, so only 51% of the members even voted.<\/p>\n

This is not the first and surely won\u2019t be the last step into politics by a religious body. We have fundamentalist preachers in Maine whose real game is politics. Ken Graves of Calvary Chapel in Orrington comes to mind. We have Liberty University (the Jerrys Falwell) \u201cdeorganizing\u201d the College Democrats because they were (gasp!) Democrats.<\/p>\n

And, fundamentalists will remind us that the civil rights movement of the 1950s and \u201960s was fomented and its strategies worked out largely in Black churches, even during worship services. That\u2019s true. It was, and they did.<\/p>\n

As with Catholics opposing abortion, Blacks seeking the vote and open public accommodations sought to make public policy parallel the lessons of their faith.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to support the civil rights movement and oppose the Catholic church on abortion. But I do. One goal is to grant civic rights to everyone, the other goal is to limit the activities of some. (Even 56% of Catholics believe abortion should be legal.)<\/p>\n

Rest assured that if abortion were illegal, plenty of people would still find a way to obtain one. I won\u2019t even try to tell you how many women I know who had abortions before they were legal. No, I was not romantically involved with any of them.<\/p>\n

As so often happens, we are hung up on words rather than deeds. I may never again write this, but on abortion Bill Clinton was correct. Abortion should be \u201clegal, safe and rare,\u201d he said. Problem is, he never did anything to put those words into effect.<\/p>\n

Back along a decade or so, there was some movement toward achieving Clinton\u2019s goal. Abortion-rights and anti-abortion types began working together to reduce the demand for abortions. Note that the number of abortions has fallen steadily. These figures for 2011-2017 from the Guttmacher Institute: Total number of abortions a year fell to 862,000 from 1,058,000, and the abortion rate per 1,000 women aged 15\u201344 fell to 13.5 from 16.9.<\/p>\n

Then the right-wing cancel culture got in the way and resumed trying to cancel progress.<\/p>\n

Here are the words of \u201cChicks on the Right.\u201d Miriam Weaver and Amy Jo Clark wrote in Time magazine, \u201cIf our ultimate goal is to drastically reduce the number of abortions . . . we must exercise some flexibility in our tolerance of contraception.\u201d<\/p>\n

They wrote that they support not only contraception but also the \u201cmorning-after pill (Plan B)\u201d because it prevents fertilization before pregnancy, which is by definition when the egg implants in the wall of the uterus. They also note that 60% of released eggs never implant. Weaver and Clark are my kind of conservatives. They say let\u2019s do, not just say.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not just oppose abortion. Let\u2019s work to continue to reduce the demand for it. Would that the Catholic bishops \u2014 is it unfair of me to note that they want to make the rules for a game that they don\u2019t play? \u2014 had as much common sense as the Chicks on the Right.<\/p>\n

Bob Neal has followed religion and the politics of religion for decades. But he still doesn\u2019t know how many theologians can dance on the head of a pin. Neal can be reached at [email\u00a0protected]<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\n
\n
\n

Invalid username\/password.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Use the form below to reset your password. When you’ve submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n